Wolves of the Beyond (Series)
The Wolves of the Beyond is the spin-off series of Guardians of Ga'Hoole. So far it has 4 books published so far: Lone Wolf, Shadow Wolf, Watch Wolf, and Frost Wolf. The author is aiming for six books but there could be up to eight if the rest of the series earns enough profit. Frost Wolf has recently been released in December. The Book Spoiler alert! 'Lone Wolf' Release Date: January 2010 A wolf mother has given birth, but the warm bundle snuffling next to her brings only anguish. The pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted leg, and the mother knows what the harsh code of the pack demands. Her pup will be taken from her and abandoned on a desolate hill. The pack cannot have weakness - the wolf mother knows that her pup is condemned to die. But along in the wilderness, the pup, Faolan, does not perish. This is his story - a story of survival, of courage, and of love triumphant. This is Faolan's story, the wolf pup who rose up to change forever the Wolves of the Beyond. 'Shadow Wolf' Release Date: October 2010 Which should be at every book store in Ontario The wolf pup Faolan was born with a twisted paw, a slight defect that caused his wolf clan to abandon him in the forest to die. But Faolan, with the help of the grizzly bear who raised him as her own, survived. Now he's made it back to his clan as a gnaw wolf, the lowest ranking pack member. And the hardships are just beginning. Another gnaw wolf, Heep, is jealous of Faolan and sets him up for failure. As if these humiliations are not enough, Faolon is framed for the murder of a wolf pup. Faolan must catch the culprit in time and prove he deserves to be a full member of the clan. 'Watch Wolf' Release Date: June 2011 Far from the owls of Ga'Hoole, a war is brewing. A bear cub has been snatched by a wolf- an unthinkable betrayal of the peace that has long existed between the wolves and grizzly bears of the Beyond. The bears are massing, roaring for revenge. The wolves claim to be innocent, but they must fight back or face total annihilation. For Faolan, a young wolf raised by a grizzly bear mother, the threat of war starts a terrible race. Some where in the honorable wolf clan lies a traitor, and Faolan must stop him and rescue the cub before it's too late. If he fails, Faolan will lose everything...And the Wolves of the Beyond will be destroyed forever. 'Frost Wolf' Release Date: December 2011 Faolan has always been an outsider. Exiled as a pup, then shunned by his fellow wolves for his unusual connection to the bears, Faolan has struggled to earn a place in the pack. But a terrible danger is looming on the horizon, and Faolan is the only one who knows how to fight it. Will he be able to claim his rightful place as leader? Unless Faolan can inspire the pack to stand together, it could be the end of the wolves of the Beyond. Settings The Beyond To the east of the Hoolian Kingdoms and south of the Sea of Vastness lies a vast stretch of frozen forest called the Beyond. This harsh land of short summers and violent winters is the home of grizzly bears, caribou that stream through in fast-moving herds, moose, owls, and most important, the green-eyed wolves that make up the six clans of the wolves of the Beyond. The Outermost To the northwest of the Beyond, where the trees thin and lichens grow thick on the rock, is a rough, barren land known as the Outermost. The only wolves that wander into this land are those who have been cast out of their clans. These outclanners flout all wolf conventions, and the order and nobility of the Beyond breaks down into mindless violence. It’s no place for a young wolf pup on his own. The Summer Den Near the banks of the rushing river that brought Faolan to Thunderheart is the site of their summer den. In a stretch of birch trees stippled by iris, Thunderheart taught Faolan to hunt, to fish, to read the stars, and to speak the language of bears. The summer den is the place that holds Faolan’s happiest memories. The Winter Den As the days of fall grow shorter and shorter, Thunderheart leaves her summer den to find a new den for her long, cold sleep. The winter den needs to be far from the river so it won’t flood, and warm and well ventilated to keep Thunderheart cozy while she sleeps. Buried in the hills north of the summer den, Thunderheart finds a hollow basalt tube from an old lava flow that makes the perfect spot. Her only problem now is Faolan—does a wolf pup sleep all winter like bears do? Or will Faolan be on his own for the long, cold months of winter? The Cave Before Time Near the border of the Beyond and the Outermost lies a cave that captures Faolan’s interest. The cave is alive with images carved into the rock—swooping owls, burning embers in fiery lava flows, flowing packs of wolves hunting caribou. Running through it all is a strange spiraling star mark—identical to the one of Faolan’s twisted paw. The Ring of the Sacred Volcanoes On the eastern edge of the Beyond are five sacred volcanoes. The most sacred of all is the location of the ember, over which the owls of Ga’Hoole fought so viciously. The volcanoes are guarded by wolves of the watch—strong, noble wolves selected from the best gnaw wolves of the clans for this important duty. The wolves of the watch are the most skilled at gnawing, and delicately inscribe the legends of their clans onto bones that they stack into towers near the sacred volcanoes. ''Raghnaid'' Cave By a red-speckled rock is an immense cave that belongs to the chieftain of the MacDuncan clan. On the walls hang scraped hides and the antlers of deer, caribou and musk ox. A great fire burns in the middle of the cave, and soft pelts for sleeping lie on the floor. The cave is where the raghnaid meets, the court of the MacDuncan wolves. After only a few short days with the clan, Faolan is brought before the raghnaid for a grave offense – breaking the strict hunting rules of the wolves. The Sark of the Slough’s Camp In the middle of the marshy slough lives the Sark, a wolf the clans hold in deep suspicion. The Sark is solitary, preferring her own company to the rowdy life of the Clan wolves. In an earthen dome near the entrance of the slough, the Sark conducts her odd experiments with fire and keeps her medicine and memory jars. Although the Clan wolves mistrust the Sark, they come to her when they’re in need. The Trail of Shame When a wolf has committed a major breech of clan law, he or she is sent on a Trail of Shame. The wolf has to cross the Clan’s territory, going from pack to pack carrying a bone of contrition in his mouth. The bone has been carved with the story of the wolf’s shame, and a new bone must be gnawed by the offender at each pack he or she visits. Faolan has to walk a trail of shame, and sees something awful when he does – the abandonment of a young wolf pup. Characters Faolan MacDuncan Faolan is the green-eyed lone wolf with a gleaming silver coat at the heart of the first Wolves of the Beyond book. He was born into a litter of three wolf pups. But unlike his healthy siblings, Faolan was born with a twisted paw that has a spiral shape on one of its pads. Because of this, Faolan is considered a malcadh, or a cursed pup. The harsh laws of the wolves lay down that, in order to protect the bloodlines, any malcadh pup must be taken from its mother and abandoned in the wilderness to die. If the pup survives, it is allowed to join the wolf pack again as a gnaw wolf, the lowest position in the pack. The parents of a malcadh, however, are driven from the pack forever. Faolan is left on an ice shelf on a riverbank to freeze or drown. But a spring flood pulls him downriver, where he is discovered by a mother grizzly bear who decides to raise him as her own. Nursed on grizzly milk and brought up with bear strength of mind, Faolan grows into a powerful, noble wolf. He’ll need his strength; the future of the wolves will depend on it. Thunderheart Thunderheart is the massive grizzly bear mother who adopts Faolan after her bear cub is stolen and killed by a cougar. Thunderheart doesn’t have much experience with wolves, so she teaches Faolan the ways of the bears, including how to walk on his hind legs legs and how to leap up onto trees. Thunderheart constantly worries that she’s not smart enough to keep up with her clever young wolf pup, but she worries most of all about the cold sleep. When winter comes and she is closed up in her den, what will happen to Faolan? Thunderheart is soon found dead, killed by an earthquake. Shibaan MacDuncan Shibaan MacDuncan is the Obea of the MacDuncan clan. Once it was clear that Shibaan could not bear pups, the head of the MacDuncan clan gave her the position of Obea. It’s her job to search out malcadh pups, to take them from their mothers and leave them out to die. Shibaan was once a beautiful wolf with lustrous tawny fur, and very popular in the pack. But now mother wolves fear her and father wolves ignore her. She is the one wolf in the pack with no rank at all. Shibaan dies of an earthquake and is seen going to the Cave Of Souls by Duncan MacDuncan, alongside all the dead malcadhs. Morag & Kinnaird MacDuncan The parents of Faolan, Dearlea and Mhairie, Morag is a silver she-wolf and Kinnaird was her tawny-furred mate. Morag had two healthy litters of pups, but in her third litter bore Faolan with his twisted paw. She and Kinnaird were driven from the MacDuncan clan, and forced to find new clans and new mates far from each other. While Kinnaird is never seen again, Morag joins the MacDonegal clan, and finds a new mate, Brangwen, and has a healthy litter of three pups. Becoming blind, they join the MacNamaras. Morag soon dies of old age after she and Faolan, her son, meet each other. Gwynneth The masked owl Gwynneth is a rogue smith who has set up a forge in the Beyond. Instead of making double-action battle claws, Gwynneth likes to create metal sculptures. She is the daughter of Gwyndor, who was murdered during the owl wars. Other than Thunderheart, Gwynneth is Faolan’s first friend and advisor. The Sark of the Slough While most wolves in the Beyond are superstitious and like to keep to the natural order set out in wolf lore, the Sark of the Slough is a curious wolf with a scientific turn of mind. She lives alone in the marshy Slough, far from the wolf clans, and conducts experiments. Because she’s solitary and not afraid to investigate taboos, most wolves think she is a witch and fear her. She has wild fur, and one green eye and one eye the color of an egg yolk. The Sark of the Slough often provides advice to the wolf-clan chiefs, and her cave serves as a resting place for mothers of malcadh pups. Duncan MacDuncan The clan chief of the powerful MacDuncan wolves has grown old. It hurts for him to move on his arthritic legs, and his memory occasionally fails him. But the MacDuncan clan reveres him and scoffs at his suggestions that he should step down as their leader. Duncan MacDuncan is the wolf who made Shibaan an Obea, and caused Morag and Kinnaird to be cast out of the MacDuncan clan. Angus MacAngus The clan chief of the MacAngus clan is Angus McAngus. On nights with wild storms when lightning streaks across the sky, Angus MacAngus’s job is to look for omens and portents. He is the first to notice that there is a lone wolf nearby, and he is the one that mistakenly spreads the news that the terrible foaming-mouth disease has come to the Beyond. Heep MacDuncan The gnaw wolf of the MacDuncan clan is Heep, who was cast out of the clan as a macaldh pup with a missing tail, but manages to survive his time alone in the forest. As the wolf with the lowest rank in his pack, Heep must eat last, must bow to all other wolves around him, and must gnaw the stories of his clan onto the bones of their prey. Heep instantly hates Faolan, who he sees as a rival. He has a personality that is easy to hate and goes on about his 'being humble' despite it being seen as pride in the eyes of Faolan and the other gnaw wolves. Morb Morb, a small wolf with a mangy russet coat and only one eye, has no clan name. He is a member of the outclanners, a despicable band of lawless wolves that live in the barren stretches of the Outermost. These wolves live by no code, and ignore all wolf taboos—even cannibalism. Edme MacHeath As a gnaw wolf for the MacHeath clan, one-eyed Edme is one of the unluckiest wolves in the Beyond. But despite the abuse she suffers from the cruel MacHeath clan wolves, Edme remains sweet and optimistic. She’s small with an unremarkable pelt, but Edme’s natural determination and talent for storytelling make her both a formidable hunter and an excellent bone carver. She’s a excellent candidate for a coveted position on the wolves of the watch. The Whistler Born with a crooked throat, the Whistler speaks in eerie creaking whispers. He was a malcadh and cast out of his clan as a pup, but he made it back and as the gnaw wolf of the Pack of the Blue Rock. The Whistler becomes one of Faolan’s first true friends. In Shadow Wolf, it is shown that The Whistler had doubts at first about joining the clan again, but the details are undescribed. Mhairie MacDuncan As one of the youngest outflankers of Duncan MacDuncan’s pack, Mhairie’s job is to flash out during the hunt to steer the prey towards the wolves that will take it down. Mhairie is new to hunting, but her powerful legs show that she’ll soon be one of the clan’s top runners. Mhairie’s tawny pelt hides a fierce temper – especially when Faolan ignores the rules of the pack and leaps out of turn during a hunt – spoiling the attack and Mhairie’s finest moment. It is mentioned that she and Faolon are relativley the same age, and were both born into the MacDuncan clan. In Frost Wolf, it is revealed as Faolan himself figures out that Mhairie and Dearlea are his sisters. The Little Pup A tawny drop of gold, the little pup is so young she doesn’t yet have a name. She had the misfortune to be born too small and too early. Because early pups are weak and tend to have hidden problems, they’re considered a blight on the Clan. The great white wolf Lael was charged with taking the little pup from the pack, leaving her to die. But the little pup has a much worse fate in store for her.Instead of being abandoned in the wilderness where she had at least a slim chance of surviving on her own, the little pup gets murdered by a wolf. The murderer was revealed at the end of Shadow Wolf; it was Heep. His reason for murdering her is still unknown (possibly a purpose to blame Faolan and get rid of him. Another possibility being that he doesn't want another gnaw wolf taking the spotlight.) Dearlea MacDuncan She is the sister of Mhairie and Faolan, confirmed so in Frost Wolf. She was next to Faolan when they were on the byrrgis of gnaw wolves during the gaddergnaw. The Prophet (spoiler of "Frost Wolf" included) The Prophet is a wolf revealed in "Frost Wolf" who thinks that Skaarsgard, the spirit wolf who helps deceased wolves climb the spirit chain, is calling him to brong heaven to earth by putting the Wolves of the Beyond into a trance. He wears a special mask and visor made by Gwyndor, a deceased rogue smith. As famine and disorders strikes the Beyond, as well as outclanners come, the Prophet tells wolves to dance in a circle and offfer up spirit food to Skaarsgard. Many of these wolves in this trance kill themselves through starvation in this process. Near the end of the book, it is revealed to us that the Prophet is the troubled Liam MacDuncan, cheiftain of the MacDuncan clan.